Now What?

Now that you have all of this info, what to do? I hope at the very least, you feel slightly more informed and empowered to navigate your local supermarket. On the other hand, realizing what these food labels really mean can be disheartening (I know it was for me). Without getting into the weeds of all these food label debates, I’d like to offer three pieces of advice:

1) If you’re on SNAP, budgeting for whole foods can be a serious challenge. I love the Good And Cheap (free download!) cookbook, which is designed around recipes anyone could make on a budget of just $4 a day.[peekaboo_content]

2) Let’s face it: Sometimes getting to the farmers market is just not possible or feels like a total drag. When I can’t buy seasonal, local, organic produce for whatever reason, I refer to EWG’s 2015 Shoppers Guide. It tells me which fruits and vegetables are safe to purchase conventionally versus organically as far as pesticide load. Here are The Dirty Dozen and The Clean Fifeteen.

3) If the lack of transparency pisses you off (and it should) never underestimate the power of your dollars. Every time you purchase a product, you are voting. The best way to fight against a system where unhealthy processed foods are cheaper than healthy, unprocessed foods is to vote with your dollars and purchase/support what you want to see more of.[/peekaboo_content][peekaboo]Content [/peekaboo]

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About Elettra

Elettra Wiedemann is the founder of Impatient Foodie, a food site that navigates her desire to marry Slow Food ideals with the realities of fast paced, urban life. Within just a few months of launch in summer of 2014, Impatient Foodie was featured in numerous publications including Vogue, The New York Post, The Daily Mail (UK) Elle US, Elle China, Yahoo Food, Yahoo News, Madame Figaro, and Racked, ManRepeller, and Food & Wine Magazine.